Coinbase Financial Markets became the first US-regulated futures commission merchant (FCM) cleared to connect domestic clients to global crypto perpetuals and options markets, the exchange said May 29, opening access to a multi-trillion dollar category previously closed to US traders.
New guidance from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) cleared the path. Institutional clients gain regulated access to instruments that account for roughly 80% of global crypto trading volume, and Prime client onboarding began immediately.
Why US Traders Lost Access for Years
Until now, US customers had no compliant route to perpetual swaps and crypto options, the two largest categories of digital-asset trading.
Many institutions stood up offshore entities to reach these markets, adding counterparty exposure and duplicative infrastructure costs.
The arrangement removes the need for offshore trading workarounds and consolidates global liquidity through a single regulated broker.
The guidance also extends prior CFTC steps such as the leveraged spot trading framework cleared in late 2024.
Deribit Access Anchors the Launch
Options on Deribit, which Coinbase acquired last year, are live through Coinbase Financial Markets, with perpetual futures contracts to follow.
Deribit holds more than $31 billion in bitcoin (BTC) options open interest.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said US users had been locked out of roughly 80% of global crypto markets, framing the CFTC clearance as the end of that gap.
Earlier US-regulated perpetual-style contracts arrived through Cboe’s continuous futures this year, but those products are limited to domestic venues and do not route to global liquidity.
“This morning, the @CFTC took historic action to permit the listing of a true bitcoin perpetual contract by a CFTC-registered exchange, charting a path for one of the most liquid segments of the crypto asset markets to exist within the US regulatory framework,” noted CFTC chair Mike Selig.
Retail access is expected later. Coinbase has not disclosed a timeline.
